Sign Up for Our Diet and Nutrition Newsletter

Thanks for signing up!

MONDAY, Jan. 23, 2012 — One of Hollywood’s most famous yo-yo dieters, mom-to-be Jessica Simpson, 31, has been surprisingly candid with the details of her pregnancy diet. Back in November, Simpson, who’s engaged to ex-NFL player Eric Johnson, revealed that she’s been “craving cantaloupe like a crazy person,” eating a whole melon with salt in just one morning.

Now, she dished to Extra’s Mario Lopez about her latest round of pregnancy cravings. "I had a buttered Pop Tart this morning," Simpson said. "I'm eating a lot of stuff that I ate in my childhood. Kraft Mac n' Cheese, Pop Tarts, Cap'n Crunch. Everything’s filled with sugar.” She went on to say that she isn’t afraid to indulge. “I give in to my cravings. I'm like 'Yeah, I can do it. We'll worry about the rest afterwards,’” she admitted.

Although this approach is a little refreshing for a Hollywood mom, using pregnancy as an excuse to indulge in out-of-control food cravings can harm the health of both mom and baby. Experts say that all pregnant women need to feed their bodies properly is about 500 extra calories a day — the equivalent of two and a half Pop-Tarts (without added butter!). There’s no evidence that Simpson’s pregnancy weight gain is unhealthy, but it’s important to remember that a too-large weight gain can result in gestational diabetes and other complications, as well as a too-large baby who will be more at-risk for obesity later in life.

Simpson recently signed a $3 million spokesperson contract with Weight Watchers to shed her baby weight, so there’s no question that all eyes will be on her to slim down fast. Because Simpson has a diet in her future, it could be that she’s overindulging in the final months of her pregnancy to make sticking to Weight Watchers’ point system a little easier. However, experts agree that this approach isn’t a healthy — or practical — one. Instead, it’s best to eat a balanced diet, with room for occasional indulgences, before embarking on any weight-loss plan.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

Advertising Notice

This Site and third parties who place advertisements on this Site may collect and use information about
your visits to this Site and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of
interest to you. If you would like to obtain more information about these advertising practices and to make
choices about online behavioral advertising, please click here.